Movie Review: ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is for Diehards Only

Director: Julius Onah
Writer: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson
Stars: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez

Synopsis: Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.

There are simply no real human cinematic stakes in Captain America: Brave New World. The title suggests a new phase or chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the film lacks excitement, suspense, and intrigue. While some may appreciate its brisk runtime and lack of complexity, the plot is shallow, and, at under two hours, the action remains generic and, at times, a yawn-inducing been there, done that kind of way.

And, to make matters worse, Captain America: Brave New World takes itself too seriously without any reason, and is  not being particularly compelling in any way. 

Captain America: Brave New World opens with Sam Wilson (The Hurt Locker’s Anthony Mackie), the new Captain America, tracking an illegal sale of adamantium—the rare metal bonded to Wolverine’s skeleton and claws—in the heart of Mexico. Alongside Joaquin Torres (Top Gun: Maverick’s Danny Ramirez), aka Falcon, they thwart Sidewinder’s ( Giancarlo Esposito, reprising his role from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) plan.

In recognition of his efforts, President-elect Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) invites Sam to the White House under the guise of a job well done. He brings Torres and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) to mend ties with a country that once turned its back on them. However, during a speech, Isaiah unexpectedly attempts to assassinate the President-elect.  After a tense chase, Sam catches up to the aging super soldier—only to discover that Isaiah has no memory of his actions.

Captain America: Brave New World is from the director Julius Onah, the man who directed one of the best films of 2019, Luce, a film that was a deeply layered, strategic thriller whose take on White guilt and Black existentialism is always at a thoughtful boil. There was an opportunity for Brave New World to engage with similar themes and, at times, it comes close. In one scene, Ford’s President Ross pointedly tells Mackie’s Sam that he is no Steve Rogers, bringing race into the conversation—especially in light of Isaiah Bradley’s history. 

However, the film quickly abandons this subject matter. As you watch, it becomes evident that the script went through multiple rewrites, stripping away anything compelling in favor of a formulaic, CGI-heavy spectacle that follows the standard comic book movie playbook beat by beat. The script has five credited writers—Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, and Peter Glanz—raising the question of why anyone expected this new chapter to match the emotional complexity and conflict of Captain America: Civil War. After all, the lead script credit belongs to a writer from Netflix’s Full House revival.

Instead, Captain America: Brave New World is an extension to one of Marvel’s most misused storylines—The Hulk—while setting up Thunderbolts and delivering one of the most underwhelming post-credit scenes in MCU history. The film is overloaded with exposition for those who may have forgotten Bruce Banner’s past, the lost history of The Eternals, and the interconnected Disney+ series, yet these references feel primarily meaningless.

It made me wonder whether this film was simply a way to tie up loose ends from previous Marvel projects that the studio has no real intention of revisiting. This makes you wonder what the point of this entry is. It doesn’t seem to have any reason to exist besides being a bridge. When you have two iconic African-American comic superheroes with so much to offer with deep, thematic storylines, only to whittle them down to a story about the Red Hulk, with tired storylines about listening to both sides screaming from the aisles politically?

Captain America: Brave New World may still work for you if you’re a diehard fan of the studio and the comics. However, for those expecting something more substantial, the film feels like leftovers—reheated and lacking real depth. The only thing this comic book film assembles is boredom, a humdrum Marvel experience if there ever was one. The storyline of Sam Wilson and Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley deserved far better than this watered-down take on these essential comic book heroes.

You can watch Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World only in theaters February 14th!

Grade: C-